Over the Garden Wall
by Y.A.O.I.F.T.W
Summary: The plot of OtGW, w/Harry Potter characters (Harry Wirt, Neville Greg, not brothers, etc.) and some changes made to the plot so it makes sense w/Harry Potter elements & to suit my needs. Eventual slash w/ Sirius & Remus but all I've got is chapter 1 right now. Enjoy.


**Chapter One – The Old Grimmauld Mill  
** ___ **  
**

 _Somewhere in the clouded panels of history lies a place that few have seen. A mysterious place called Hogwarts, where long forgotten stories are revealed to those who travel through the wood…_

"Crrroak."

"I know we're lost, you don't have to remind me every two seconds, Toad."

"…crrooooak."

Harry sighed and glanced upward, glaring slightly at the toad traveling on his head.

"That's enough out of you. I'm doing the best I can here, being lost and all. We've been going in the same direction for a while now, so I'm sure we'll come across something soon, Mr. Pessimist." Harry ranted, his footsteps falling a little more heavily on the ground as he walked on.

The toad shifted around on his head a bit before letting out a soft, apologetic croak. Bemused that he was having a conversation with a toad at all, Harry's lips twitched into a small smile. He winced, bringing his hand up towards his mouth, he dabbed at his lip with his fingers. His lip throbbed as he moved his hand back and saw the little spots of blood on his fingers. Sighing, he let his hand fall back to his side as he licked his lip to wipe away the blood and sooth the stinging.

"It's okay Toad, I'm sorry for snapping, I'm just tired of being lost." He said, reaching up and gently patting the toad on the head.

Harry Potter was completely and utterly lost. He wasn't sure how though, since he grew up running around these woods….or, at least, he thought these were the same woods. Until he realized he must have been walking in a straight line for over an hour and it never took more than ten minutes for him to find his way out of the Little Whinging Woods.

Standing at a diminutive height of 5'5'', Harry was rather small for being a fifteen year old boy - he was the shortest boy in his class at Stonewall Secondary School. Coupled with his dark auburn hair always in a just-out-of-bed styled mess, his oversized, hand-me-down clothes, and his held-together-by-tape glasses, he looked like a bedraggled hoodlum to most people who saw him. Just about the only thing that might look out of place with this ragamuffin appearance would be his bright green eyes, but since those were always hidden by his glasses, they were easily overlooked by those who didn't take the time to look closely.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he tried to think back to what happened to bring him to this point. The last thing Harry remembered before waking up lost in this forest was running from his cousin, Dudley.

Harry lived with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. The Dursley's were his only living relatives who he'd been living with since he was fifteen months old. His parents had been killed in a car accident and since Petunia, Harry's aunt, was the only sister of Harry's mother, Lily, Harry was shipped off to live with her and her husband, Vernon Dursley. Petunia, however, was fiercely jealous of her older sister and that jealousy translated into hate for anything good in Lily's life, especially Harry. The Dursley's valued normalcy, however, and prided themselves on being "good, upstanding citizens," so they really had no choice but to take in Harry, lest they tarnish their _perfect_ reputation. Behind the closed doors of Number four, Privet Drive, however, was a whole other story.

Harry had been forced to do an increasing amount of household chores since he was four years old. It started with small tasks, like folding and putting away all the laundry, then doing all the cleaning, and by the time he was six, he was almost exclusively in charge of cooking all the meals. Petunia would supervise him in the beginning, but after the incident with the burnt bacon (Harry had burnt the bacon, so Petunia took the frying pan and swung at him, getting some of the cooking grease on his arms that he'd raised to protect his face. He had a smattering of small, circular scars on both arms because of that incident), Harry was sure to never make another mistake in the kitchen. By the time Harry turned ten years old, he was doing all the chores around the house. Any screw ups or unfinished chores resulted in punishment – usually withholding food and in certain cases, Vernon would use the belt on Harry.

For the most part, Aunt Petunia kept her side of the abuse strictly verbal, aside from a few slaps every now and again. Uncle Vernon, on the other hand, almost exclusively used his fists to speak with Harry. Harry and Vernon had a hot-and-cold relationship, meaning, as long as Harry did everything Petunia said and didn't cause her to come to Vernon with any complaints, Vernon was content ignoring Harry's existence. When Petunia did have complaints, Vernon immediately took action. The level of brutality he used usually depended on how Vernon's day (or week) at work had gone. Most times, he was so stressed out that Harry couldn't even remember a time that he could say Vernon "went easy" on him. The majority of Harry's life revolved around trying to stay off Vernon's radar as much as he can.

Dudley followed his parents' example and treated Harry just as badly. He grew up extremely spoiled, almost as if his parents were trying to make up for their treatment of Harry by treating Dudley twice as well. Dudley saw this treatment as proof that there must be something wrong with Harry that made his parents hate him, so he used every opportunity to make Harry's life miserable. He frequently blamed Harry for things he didn't do, like when Dudley broke this brand new TV by throwing his brand new PlayStation controller at it, Harry was blamed and punished. Dudley even got the kids at school to treat Harry badly. Dudley was well known by the kids as a bully, so he intimidated and scared off any kids who would try to befriend Harry. Barely a month into their first year of schooling and Dudley had effectively kept Harry isolated from all their peers.

Harry stopped walking and sighed in frustration. _'Maybe I have a slight concussion since I can't keep my mind from wandering off track.'_ He thought, closing his eyes and gently touching his forehead. Sighing once more, he tried to refocus on remembering what happened.

Dudley and his friends enjoyed beating up on Harry, they even created a game they call " _Harry Hunting_ ," the goal of which is to chase and capture Harry – the longer it takes to catch him, the harder the beating once they do. The latest bout of _Harry Hunting_ forced him to retreat into the woods behind the decrepit Little Whinging public park. Dudley and his friends were being particularly tenacious in their chase, so Harry was forced to run farther into the woods than he would normally go. Eventually, Harry feared that they would actually catch up to him, but then he came upon a cobblestone wall. Knowing that he could get over it, but Dudley wouldn't be able to, Harry went for it, climbing the tree closest to the wall and hopping over. He stumbled some with the landing, wrapping his arms around his stomach and hunching over because of the deep ache that rushed through his body at the impact. Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, had ambushed Harry when he was leaving school and got a few good punches in before Harry had been able to escape. A few hard punches to his abdomen, one solid hit to his face, splitting his lip and probably bruising his face. Panting to try and catch his breath, Harry winced at the next wave of stinging pain that laced up his sides. Once he got his breathing under control he slowly sank to the ground and leaned back against the wall. Hearing the pounding footsteps and yells from Dudley and his friends, he held his breath and waited.

"Which way did he go!?" he heard Dudley yell, leaves rustling and crunching as he lumbered through them.

"I don't know, I lost sight of him in the trees a while back!" Piers yelled back. Harry heard him kick the wall before cursing.

"Maybe over the wall?" another friend, 90, suggested. Harry's eyes widened and his body froze up.

"Nah, I doubt he'd have been able to climb over that in his condition. I got him good in the head earlier when he tripped, he was running slower than usually so I know I did some damage." Piers replied, more leaves crunching as the boys began moving away from the wall.

"Whatever, we lost him for today, let's go back. Mom said you all can come over tonight so we can get him when he comes crawling back home." Dudley laughed. The others joined in with the laughter and they all walked off, their voices fading the farther they walked.

Harry waited a few minutes, breathing quietly for a few more minutes to make sure they were really gone, before attempting to stand back up. Halfway between a crouch and fully standing Harry suddenly felt very dizzy and black spots flashed in front of his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down his suddenly fast-beating heart. He thought he'd calmed down enough to try standing fully again, but before he knew it, his vision was going black and he was falling back to the ground.

' _And then I woke up to this toad croaking at me…'_ he concluded, opening his eyes and glancing upwards at his travel companion.

The toad looked down at Harry, it's big, yellow eyes blinking slowly before croaking softly.

Harry smiled and said, "Well, I still don't know what happened, but I'm pretty sure this isn't the Little Whinging forest, though I have no idea how I got here from where I was. Especially if I apparently blacked out…"

He reached up and grabbed the toad, bringing it down so they were looking at each other eye-to-eye.

"I don't think I ever thanked you, by the way, for waking me up. There's a big chance I have (or had?) a concussion, so sleeping is (was…?) a bad idea. And as thanks, we can help each other get un-lost since I'm sure there's someone out there looking for you…you certainly act like someone's pet, or friend, or whatever." Harry babbled, continuing to walk through the forest once more.

After a few more hours of walking, Harry called it quits for the day, finding a nice, large tree to rest under for the night. He gathered for twigs and some of the dry leaves that covered the ground. Digging a small pit in the dirt, he placed the leaves down in a small pile before laying the twigs on top of them. Reaching into his backpack, that was thankfully still with him, he pulled out a small white box, thankful that he'd gotten into the habit of carrying around a first aid kit. Opening it, he dug around for a second before pulling out the small book of matches. Lighting the leaves, he spent a few minutes getting the fire going before leaning back against the trunk of the tree and sighing.

' _I've been doing that a lot.'_ He thought, smiling wryly to himself as he looked up towards the canopy of the tree.

The toad leaped into Harry's lap and wiggled around a bit before curling up and going to sleep. Harry chuckled and patted the toad once before getting comfortable and closing his eyes.

'I'm just resting for a bit, not going to sleep. Because I might have a concussion, so sleeping is a bad idea…not to mention I'm in an unknown forest that could be dangerous…" Harry thought, tired and wanting to sleep, but too scared of what might happen if he decided to give in. Hearing the crunch of leaves being tread on, Harry's eyes snapped open and he jerked around towards the sound.

There, standing a few feet away from him, was a man. He was holding a lantern and the angle from the ground made it hard for Harry to make out anything more. Scrambling up, jostling the toad a bit before grabbing hold of it and curling his arms around it, Harry prepared to run.

"What are you doing out here!?" the man demanded, his voice deep and harsh, making Harry flinch back.

"I – I'm lost!" Harry replied, his voice breaking in fear before he cleared his throat and continued, "I got turned around somewhere and have been trying to get out of this forest for most of the day. Who are you?" he finished, standing a little straighter and trying to not look as frightened as he felt.

The man lowered his lantern and Harry finally got a good look at his face. He had sharp features, his nose was a little large on his face. He had dark eyes that looked black in the soft glow of the lantern, his shoulder-length black hair falling around his face nicely.

"I am the Potions Master, Severus Snape. The Forbidden Forest is not a place for a child to roam alone, come, I will lead you to Hogsmead." He stated, turning on his heel, his cloak flaring out behind him dramatically.

"W-wha, hang on!" Harry yelled, reaching out for the Potions Master.

Severus paused and looked over his shoulder, bringing the lantern up a little higher so the light shone behind him. He waited for Harry to speak.

Nervous and confused, Harry's hand slowly fell back to his side as he kept eye contact with Severus.

"Why should I trust you? And what is Hogsmead?" Harry asked, breaking eye contact to reach down and grab his backpack, placing it on his shoulder and readjusting the toad in his arms.

"You shouldn't trust me, but you have no other choice if you want to survive in these woods any longer. Hogsmead is the nearest village, about a fifteen minute walk in this direction. Luckily I came upon you when I did, any longer in the direction you were going and you would have stumbled upon the Centaur's territory." He explained, turning slightly to see Harry better, but still standing in a manner that suggested he would be heading to Hogsmead, with or without Harry.

Harry debated with himself for a few minutes, watching as Severus's patience started to run out. Right when Severus might have spoken again, Harry made a decision.

"…My name is Harry Potter, and this is my companion, I've just been calling him Toad. We appreciate your help." Harry said, smiling as he went to put out the fire. Kicking dirt onto the small flame, he turned back to Severus once it was extinguished.

Severus lifted an eyebrow and made eye contact with the toad, who croaked a greeting.

"…Pleasure." He said, lip twitching slightly in bemusement.

Harry blushed slightly in embarrassment, laughing lightly at the look on Severus's face.

"Yeeeah, he's lost too and he found me. We've been helping each other try to find our way out of the woods." He explained, shrugging his shoulders and blushing harder when Severus's only response was to continue staring at Harry.

After a few awkward moments of staring, Severus cleared his throat.

"Well, shall we go then?" he asked, turning full around and beginning to walk. Harry shared a look with Toad and hesitated a moment before following.

As they walked, Harry kept peaking curiously at Severus, questions flashing through his mind. Severus seemed to be able to read minds because after a few minutes of quick glances, he said, "As I said, I am a Potions Master. The Forbidden Forest is full of potions ingredients, so I frequently come in here to harvest some. Because of this, I have become very familiar with certain parts of the forest, as well as many of the inhabitants. I still cannot believe you did not come across any of them while you wandered around as you were."

Harry nodded to show his understanding and asked, "You mean like the Centaurs you were talking about?"

"Yes. Among others." Was the short reply. Harry considered this for a few minutes before quickening his pace to walk even with Severus instead of behind him.

"So, why are you helping m – us?" Harry asked, leaning forward a bit and tilting his head towards Severus, looking up and trying to make eye contact.

Severus glanced down at Harry, his lips twitching again, but he didn't say anything. Harry realized Severus had no intention of answering, so he straightened up and sighed. They continued the rest of the walk in silence.

When Harry first saw the light from beyond the trees, he got so excited he grabbed Severus's hand and began dragging him towards it.

Severus jolted in surprise, looking down at their clasped hands in bewilderment. He was so shocked that he didn't even try to dislodge Harry's hand from his. Reaching the edge of the trees, they were soon looking upon Hogsmead Village.

Slowing to a walk, Harry suddenly realized what he'd just done and flinched, yanking his hand away from Severus's, blushing and apologizing. Severus simply nodded and tried to ignore the way his hand burned where Harry's skin touched his.

Clearing his throat, uncomfortable with the sudden awkward silence, Harry shifted Toad around in his arms and fidgeted a bit.

Severus took in a deep breath and held it before letting it out in a quiet sigh.

"This is Hogsmead Village. You will be able to spend the night here before getting help to find your way home. Here is some money, as I assume you haven't got any, being lost. You can find lodging at The Three Broomsticks, just down this road and on the right. I must return to the forest as I was not done collecting my potions ingredients." Severus explained calmly, handing Harry some coins and moving to walk away.

Harry reached out, fingers grasping the edge of Severus's cloak, "Wait! Thank you so much for all of this, how can I ever repay you?" he asked, desperate to spend just a few more seconds with the Potions Master, the first friendly (human) face he's seen all day.

Severus looked at the green, green eyes of the young man, sympathetic when he saw the desperation shining in their depths. He reached back and gently placed his free hand on top of Harry's, tugging them off of his cloak.

"If you feel that strongly about paying me back, I shall simply have to meet you again before you leave to go back home. I am also staying at The Three Broomsticks, so I will most likely see you tomorrow morning, but more likely not until early afternoon seeing as I'll be out collecting ingredients for the next few hours." He explained quietly, releasing Harry's hands and stepping back.

Harry sighed in relief and nodded.

"Okay, then I shall see you tomorrow!" He said, smiling brightly. "Good luck with your potions ingredient hunt." He added, raising a hand to wave as Severus turned away again and began walking.

Turning around himself, Harry headed in the direction Severus had indicated earlier. He came upon The Three Broomsticks after a few minutes of walking and went in. Five minutes later he had a warm meal and a single room for the night. Sharing his meal with Toad, he soon finished and headed up to the room.

Dropping his backpack onto the side table, placing Toad on the pillow, and kicking off his shoes, he flopped onto the bed face first.

Not even having the energy to say good night to Toad, Harry soon drifted off, forgetting entirely that he may have had a concussion that might have needed to be checked out by someone.  
 ___

 ** _Long before our story_**

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was a prestigious and well known family. They claimed to be able to trace their roots back to the first rulers of the land and took pride in their claim that there was no family more pure than they. They believed themselves so pure, in fact, that they come to completely shun anyone and anything that could not claim the same purity. _Toujours pur_ , meaning "Always pure," became the family motto many centuries ago and to this day every member of the Black family stated their motto with pride. However, this pride would eventually cause a curse to be placed upon the family.

Phineas Nigellus Black was the heir who would bring ruin to the family. On Phineas' seventeenth birthday he was made head of the family. The celebration held in his honor was huge and every noble family in the country was invited; however, none of the local village folk were allowed to come. Believing themselves too pure to meddle with the common folk, the Blacks made is perfectly clear that only the elite were allowed to attend. Most of the villagers had no problem with this, as they greatly disliked the pompous Black family.

There was a terrible storm that night. Sometime during the party, an old woman came to the door. Having taken a short break from the party, Phineas was the one to greet her. She asked if she might find shelter here until the storm had passed. Having never seen her before, and closely examining the thread-bare clothing she wore, he scoffed and told her in no uncertain terms that only those of pure blood were allowed within the doors of this manor. He slammed the door in her face and turned to rejoin the party, only to come nose-to-nose with the woman. She had a twisted smirk on her face and as he watched, she seemed to blur around the edges before suddenly, in her place stood a beautiful young woman. She was a witch, a rare magic user, and she had tricked the Black heir with her magic. She explained that she was intrigued when she heard tale of a family claiming to be pure. She thought it amusing that there were mortals who believed themselves more pure even though they had no magic. In her eyes, to claim purity over everything, including magic, was a grave insult.

She would place a curse upon The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Phineas begged her not to, but she had made up her mind. The first born sons of the Black family would be cursed to be turned into Grimms, the huge, black, dog-shaped omens of death, on the eve of their seventeenth birthdays. This would render them unable to claim their inheritance and if there was not a second son to take the mantel, the family would have to either breed outside the family or die out. The only way to break the curse would be for each individual heir to find true love. The witch did not believe in true love, and did not believe that anyone raised in the Black family could come to truly love another person.

The Blacks were devastated. They blamed Phineas for the curse and cast him out of the family, believing that by disowning him, they might save future generations of Black heirs. However, the curse had already taken root, and disowning someone did not change their blood. So from then on, every first born son of the Black family became a Grimm on the eve of their seventeenth birthday. Since then, not one was ever able to return to their human self. Each one died after living out the rest of their lives as a dog. Eventually, the Blacks started to have more children, hoping that a second son would solve the heir problem, but the Black family had always been moderately fertile, with each generation only having about two children, and most of them were girls. The Black family fell into despair, until finally, after many generations, Walburga Black had the first second born son since the curse was placed. By then, however, the family had been forced to branch out to keep the blood line alive. They still claimed blood purity, but everyone knew that was impossible if all the first born were Grimms. After Phineas, his brother took over the family, and when his first born turned, they had two daughters before the wife died in childbirth. The youngest daughter ended up birthing the next Family Head, who changed, and so on. Sirius and Regulus Black were the miracle children of the Black family that would allow the family to live on.

Regulus Black was treated like the first born heir from the moment he was born. Sirius had been taught simple things like how to talk, write, and read, but he was not taught the roles, responsibilities, or traditions of the Black family. They did not see the point when he was just going to turn into a Grimm anyway. So Sirius was ignored and Regulus was brought up a spoiled prince of the Black house. After his change, Sirius was escorted by the family butler to an old flour mill that used to belong to the Black family. It was in ruin now and nobody dared go near it after _The Beast_ was sighted. Sirius was left there by his family, unable to leave because of the enchantments the Blacks had placed around the property to keep him there. He could only leave if he was accompanied by someone else, and they had to know he was there so he couldn't sneak out after someone lost or wandering around in the woods. The Blacks did not want Sirius to come back to the manor and try to sabotage his brother.

Not that Sirius had any plans to sabotage his brother. Despite his treatment at the hands of his family, Sirius held no grudge. Having known of the curse for as long as he could remember, he had been anticipating the change for years. It might have been a pre-disposed personality or the product of the way they treated him, but Sirius never liked being a Black anyway. He hated their pride and greed and wanted nothing to do with them, but could not escape before the change. Despite the countless centuries and generations that went through the change, the Black family still held on to their hope that one day, a first born son might not change.

Sirius was glad for the change. It was strange being a Grimm, and it was lonely, but he was finally free of his family. All that was left was to leave the Mill and fall in love. Sirius was sure that he was capable of loving someone enough to break the spell, but having never been exposed to anyone outside the family, he had never had the chance to test his theory. Now, he had the whole world to explore to search for someone to love, all that stood in his way was the magical barrier.

So Sirius Black waited in the old Grimmuald Mill for a rescue that might never come.  
 ___

 _Six Years Later_

Remus Lupin was a scholar. He was interested in knowledge of all kinds, but was particularly interested in history. He loved to study old mythology, wives tales and superstitions. He was a bit of a supernatural enthusiast to be honest. The recent sightings of the being known only as _The Beast_ was his current subject of study. He wanted to know if there really was a _Beast_ , or if someone had just seen a large animal of some kind and mistaken it for a humanoid creature of darkness. His research had led him to the small village of Hogsmead, right on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, the most deadly forest in the country of Hogwarts. This was the location with the most sightings of _The Beast_ , so Remus was sure there would be some clues around here that might shed some light on this mystery.

Remus was of average height with dark auburn hair that matched his eyes. He wore well-worn clothes, dark brown pants along with a white poet's shirt and a dark brown vest. There was an old leather satchel slung over his left shoulder. He held a book in his hand that he was periodically looking down at before turning his eyes back on the mill.

Grimmauld Mill was said to be haunted. Remus did not believe that, but most of the residence in Hogsmead sure did. After asking around and doing some more research, Remus had found out that the Mill used to belong to the Blacks, an old family that is said to be cursed. Many of the sightings were said to happen within a half mile of the mill, so Remus has reasoned that maybe _The Beast_ was living in or around the mill.

Remus was getting ready to actually enter the mill when he heard what sounded like a twig snapping. Whipping his head around, his eyes zeroed in on a broken branch laying a few yards away. He froze and cautiously turned around, searching for what might have stepped on that branch. After a minute or so, when nothing else moved or made a sound, he sighed and shook his head a little.

"It was probably a rabbit or something," he muttered, turning back towards the door.

"Boo!"

With an undoubtedly girlish yelp, Remus jumped and spun back around.

He gaped.

Remus slowly stared to back towards the door. There, in front of him, was a huge dog. He was sitting in front of Remus, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He was pitch black and shaggy fur covered every inch of the creature. Even sitting, his head was level with Remus's chest. Seeing as Remus was 5' 7'', the dog was a verifiable monster. His eyes were an interesting mix of silver and dark blue, they looked almost like a starry night sky.

' _No, not a dog!'_ He thought, "…a Grimm?" he whispered to himself, furrowing his brow and tilting his head slightly to the right.

"Yup! I'm certainly not a _rabbit_!" said the grinning Grimm.

"…How are you talking?" Remus asked, shaking his head and leaning heavily against the door. _'And why are you here?!'_ he yelled in his mind.

"Relax, I'm not a real Grimm, so don't think you're about to die or anything….though, I may just decide to eat you up!" the Grimm said, somehow his grin became charming and he winked at the stupefied scholar.

"Did you just….wait, never mind that. If you're not here to foresee my death, what are you here for? And what do you mean you're not a real Grimm?" Remus asked, shifting uncomfortably under the gaze of the giant dog-like creature.

"Whoa, whoa! One question at a time!" the Grimm said, making a strange huffing sound that Remus thought might have been laughter.

"To answer your first question, I'm here because there is a magical barrier that keeps me confined to the Mill." The Grimm continued, he then shook his body, ruffling his fur.

Remus stopped trying to become one with the door and blinked at the Grimm.

"A barrier? But I got in…" he said, trailing off when the Grimm shook his head, pawing at the ground.

"The barrier is only to keep me here. Anyone else can come and go as they please." The Grimm explained, standing and moving towards the little ridge that crossed over the Mills river source. Once he reached the edge of the bridge, he raised a paw and tried to move it forward, only to jerk back when electricity flashed and shocked him.

Remus gasped and rushed over.

"Are you okay!?" He exclaimed, grabbing the singed paw and examining it.

The Grimm didn't reply so Remus looked up at his face. The Grimm was staring at him, grey-blue eyes big and looking as shocked as a canine could look. They stared at each other for a few more seconds before the Grimm laughed again.

"You're a weird guy. I'm not a real Grimm but this body is built like one, a little shock like that won't hurt me. I'm fine, thank you for your concern though." He said, happiness radiating from his face, tongue lolling from his mouth.

Remus huffed and placed his hands on his hips.

"You said you weren't really a Grimm though, and how was I supposed to know electricity doesn't hurt Grimms?" he said, glaring at the beast.

The Grimm tilted his head, his mouth closing, eyes still shining.

"Sorry, it's just weird having someone to speak to, let alone having someone so concerned for me. And I'm not a real Grimm!" he replied.

Remus help his stance, foot beginning to tap.

The Grimm watched him for a minute before realizing what Remus was waiting for.

"Oh, uh….I'm really a man. I've been cursed to become a Grimm. Well, my family was cursed and it only affects the first born sons and I'm the first born, so I became a Grimm when I was seventeen…." He explained. Halfway through his explanation he started pacing. Remus's arms fell to his sides and his mouth slowly fell open as he realized who the Grimm was claiming to be.

"You're part of the Black family and they're really cursed?!" He yelled, pointing at the Grimm, who jerked his head towards Remus and stopped his pacing.

"Yeah…I'm Sirius Black by the way, who are you?" he introduced himself, that strangely charming canine grim forming again.

Remus floundered for a second. It wasn't every day you met a legend who was so flippant about the situation.

"My name is Remus Lupin, it's nice to meet you Mr. Black." Remus answered, rubbing the back of his neck in a self-conscious gesture.

"Just Sirius is fine, I'm not really a Black anymore now am I?" Sirius said, his canine face somehow looking self-deprecating.

Remus smiled and replied, "Sirius then, it's nice to meet you…" he trailed off as he realized the significance of the information he just learned.

Not only was the Black family actually cursed, the curse turned the first born sons into omens of death and they were apparently abandoned in a secure location by themselves after the turn. Hundreds of questions flashed in Remus's mind. _'Why were they cursed? Who cursed them? Why Grimms? How is the curse broken?'_ Sirius could see the questions on Remus's face and laughed to himself.

' _I can't believe my luck! The first person to actually come here to see the Mill and it's a surprisingly attractive and curious man who wants to know everything! I've hit the jackpot, I'm so out of here!'_ he cheered in his head, smiling outwardly and moving closer to Remus who was back by the front door of the Mill.

"You can ask me anything you want, and I will answer as much as I can, but I do have one condition." Sirius said, making firm eye contact with Remus. Remus nodded, but kept his mouth shut, afraid if he opened it a stream of questions would overflow from his head.

"I'll answer all your questions," Sirius repeated, "as long as you promise to take me with you once you're finished at the Mill here." He finished, staring Remus down and willing him to accept.

Remus blinked incredulously, "That's all? Of course you can come with me! Do you know if the barrier will fall once you leave once? I'm staying in Hogsmead while I research this Mill, but today was the first day I'd been able to come out here so I'll need to come back…unless you could answer all my questions about the Mill as well?!" Remus babbled, excited at the thought of all the new information he would be able to learn from Sirius.

Sirius furrowed his brow and thought for a minute, "I'm actually not sure how the barrier works. I would prefer not to test it out, but as long as the end result is you helping me leave this place, I wouldn't mind testing it out…" he muttered, glancing around the familiar surroundings of the Mill and back at Remus, who had a beaming smile on his face.

"Great! So we'll spend today testing the barrier and then I'll take some pictures of the Mill for reference. Then we can head back to the Three Broomsticks (that's where I'm staying) and you can fill me in on this curse of yours!" Remus replied, holding out his hand towards Sirius.

Sirius grinned again and placed his huge paw on top of Remus's hand.

"It's a deal! Thanks a bunch, mate!" Sirius exclaimed, right before he lunged forward and tackled Remus to the ground.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Remus squawked, flailing his arms as he fell to the ground, Sirius's weight causing a whoosh of air to leave his lungs on impact.

Sirius replied by licking Remus's face with his huge, wet, doggie tongue.

"Oh – EWW SIRIUS, geT OFF!" Remus yelled, pushing at the cursed Grimm's face. Sirius growled playfully and winked when he caught Remus's eye, delighted when Remus promptly blushed.

After a few more minutes of struggling, Remus succeeded in pushing the Grimm-who-was-really-a-man (who-was-really-a-child) off, he tried to wipe the drool off his face with his sleeve, glaring at the unrepentant Sirius, who simply rolled over, exposing his belly and lolling his tongue out of his mouth again.

When Sirius started to wiggle around, scratching his back on the ground, Remus sighed then let out a small chuckle.

"I can tell this is the beginning of a really weird friendship." He said to himself, kneeling down beside Sirius to rub his still exposed belly. Sirius froze for a second when Remus's hand made contact with his fur, but relaxed and huffed in approval. 

_Somewhere in the Forbidden Forest_

"Show yourself, Beast!" Severus yelled, holding his lantern high and brandishing it like a weapon against the darkness surrounding him.

"What do you want, dear Potions Master?" a deep voice replied. Severus spun around, the dim glow of his lantern swinging around with him. There was a flash of green and a screech like a banshee.

Standing before the Potions Master, half hidden by a tree and just outside the lantern's range, a tall and menacing shadow stood. Glowing red eyes full of malice glared down at him.

"Do not test my patience, boy." The Beast hissed, the deep voice taking on a snake like quality.

The Potions Master glared back at The Beast, "Why have you brought the boy here?" he demanded.

"Why, to help you with your lantern, of course." The Beast replied slyly, sinking down into the shadows created by the lantern before materializing again behind a tree that was significantly farther from the Potions Master.

"What does that mean!?" Severus yelled, moving towards the Beast's new location. Before the light of his lantern could shine on the Beast, however, it stepped fully out from behind the tree, seeming to grow in size until it was towering over the, now nervous, Potions Master.

"Why don't you tell me, Severus?" it hissed, throwing its head back and laughing as it slowly shrunk and faded into the darkness. It's glowing red eyes the last thing to disappear, hanging suspended in the air for a few seconds before also fading.

Severus stared at the spot where the Beast eyes had disappeared form for a long time, lost in thought. Even when he began walking, he mulled over the Beast's words.

Just what did the Beast mean, what did the boy have to do with his lantern?

Suddenly, he stopped and looked at the lantern in his hand. He contemplated it for a few minutes, before making a decision. He needed to research some things, and he knew just the man to help him

 _And so the story begins. The scholar and the Grimm have met and joined forces while the boy from another world sleeps in an unfamiliar land. All unaware of the Beast that lurks in the shadows. And what of the mysterious Potions Master and his lantern? More will be revealed as the story continues…_

 ___

 _I Don't Own anything, I just got inspired and this is the result. I hope you enjoyed it, leave a review if you would like. I do have pretty detailed plans for each episode of Over the Garden Wall, up until episode 5 (each episode would basically become one chapter like this) if I decide to continue. I've been sitting on this for a while so I'll really need to see some interest before I'll consider actually hashing out the rest though, sorry._


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